Davie
Pill Mill Owner Sentenced in Operation
Snake Oil Defendant
Owned and Operated Six Area Pain Management
Clinics that Dispensed Oxycodone, Profited
More than $22 Million

MIAMI-
Mark R. Trouville, Special Agent in Charge,
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA),
Miami Field Division, Wifredo A. Ferrer,
United States Attorney for the Southern District
of Florida, and José A. Gonzalez,
Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue
Service, Criminal Investigation Division
(IRS-CID), Miami Field Office, announced
today’s sentencing of Vincent Colangelo,
44, of Davie, for his role in a large-scale
conspiracy involving the illegal distribution
of prescription pain medication and related
criminal offenses between October 2008 and
February 23, 2011.

Colangelo
pled guilty on April 2, 2012, to conspiracy
to distribute and dispense large amounts
of oxycodone without a legitimate medical
purpose and outside the usual course of professional
practice. Colangelo also pled guilty to money
laundering and filing a false 2009 federal
income tax return. U.S. District Judge Marcia
G. Cooke sentenced Colangelo to 20 years
in prison, to be followed by three years
of supervised release. In addition, Colangelo
was ordered to forfeit five properties valued
at more than $2.5 million, approximately
$911,951 seized from seven bank accounts
and a safety deposit box, 52 vehicles and
vessels worth more than $6 million and jewelry
valued at approximately $20,000.

The
charges arose from Operation Snake Oil,
an undercover DEA investigation that began
in approximately September 2009. Previously
sentenced for their roles in the drug conspiracy
by U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke were:
Wayne Richards to 20 months in prison; Nicholaus
Thomas and Rachael Bass to 120 months and
50 months in prison, respectively; and Michael
Plesak to 60 months in prison. Two remaining
co-defendants are awaiting sentencing.

DEA
Special Agent in Charge Mark R. Trouville
stated, “DEA’s mission to prevent
the illegal distribution of prescription
drugs will continue. Today’s sentencing
of Mr. Colangelo sends out a loud and clear
message that we will not tolerate these types
of crimes. The DEA and our counterparts will
remain vigilant in our efforts to ensure
that these medicines get into the hands of
legitimate patients and not in the pockets
of greedy drug traffickers.”

U.S.
Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer stated, “Pill
mill owners and operators, like Vincent Colangelo,
churn out prescription pain killers without
regard to the safety and well-being of our
community. One by one, however, we are shutting
down these unscrupulous clinic owners and
operators. Through operations like Snake
Oil, Pill Nation, Oxy Alley, Gotham and other
prosecutions, we are making a positive difference,
but we are not done. We will continue to
investigate and prosecute owners, operators,
doctors, and pharmacies who seek to hide
behind a medical license to push deadly drugs
in our community.”

IRS
Special Agent in Charge José A. Gonzalez
stated, “Today, justice is served,
as Mr. Colangelo is being held accountable
for his criminal actions. IRS Criminal Investigation
is proud to provide its financial expertise
as we work with the U.S. Attorney’s
Office and our law enforcement partners to
prosecute individuals who promote illegal
schemes and put lives at risk. Our agents
will continue to follow the money to ensure
that all proceeds derived from the illegal
activities are forfeited to the U.S. government.”

According
to court documents, Colangelo owned and operated
six pain management clinics and a pharmacy
in Broward and Miami-Dade counties between
October 2008 and February 23, 2011. Colangelo
and his co-conspirators were responsible
for dispensing more than 660,000 dosage units
of oxycodone in amounts greater than 1.4
million milligrams and prescribing significantly
more oxycodone filled by outside pharmacies
to patients throughout Florida and other
states. Colangelo mass marketed his pain
clinics through more than 1,600 Internet
sites. Immediate cash payment was required
for access to “doctor visits,” the
filling of prescriptions, and for “VIP” service,
which enabled patients to bypass hours of
waiting and long lines for an express visit
with the pain doctor. Colangelo also directed
the patients to obtain MRIs that he and his
co-conspirators knew misrepresented or overstated
the alleged condition and source of pain
in the patients’ backs or necks. Colangelo
falsified and directed his employees to falsify
patients’ urine tests, which together
with the false MRIs, attempted to justify
the large amount of oxycodone prescribed
by the clinics’ doctors. Colangelo
advertised for doctors on Craigslist and
hired only doctors who agreed to prescribe
maximum amounts of oxycodone and Xanax to
patients. Colangelo and his co-conspirators
paid “doctor shoppers” to obtain
bogus MRIs and to secure prescriptions for
excessive amounts of oxycodone from doctors
at Colangelo’s pain clinics. The oxycodone
obtained from Colangelo’s clinics was
sold on the street and shipped outside the
State of Florida at a substantial profit.

Mr.
Ferrer thanked the DEA, IRS-CID, and the
Broward Sheriff’s Office, as well as
the many other state and local agencies for
their investigative work.